A Subtle Science and Exact Art
by Luthein
Summary: Tension arises between Harry and Snape when Harry fills the DADA post. After working together towards Voldemort's defeat, Harry and Snape understand each other more than they would like. Will something more evolve? HPSS SLASH. Postwar. mild sexual content


A/N: This belongs to JK Rowling, I doubt she'd use it, but if she wanted to then right on.

**THIS IS SLASH** -HP/SS to be exact. No extreme sexual content. It will stay PG-13/T there will be cursing but I shouldn't be bad. If you don't like it or disagree entirely with the idea of slash then what the hell are you reading it for? I write hetero stuff, please go read that.

Flames are fine. But please keep your pathetic, grammarless, spelling error riddled insults to yourself.

**Ensnaring the Senses**

I'm pretty sure it began after I had started work on my potions and defense cross-reference experiments. That brought all three of us into a close working environment, well closer than before. My excitement about the formation of a counter horcrux (that, of course, is a working title) brought me to study both the creation and destruction of one. See, I knew from our countless horcrux hunting expeditions, that the reaction clearly reflected belladonna-bezoar-

Oh dear, it seems I lost myself there. "Typical Hermione" Ron would probably say. But I digress-

I should start officially when Harry forgave Snape. The details I know are extremely vague. The two of them entered the kitchen of Grimmauld place, and exited it six hours later. Ron and I did not interfere with their talk; we sat quietly flicking dung bombs at the imperturbable charm like on the kitchen door; like we did when we were younger. When it opened Snape left quickly. Harry stated, to our surprise, that we were to trust Snape. He would not explain any further than that. Well, we had believed Dumbledore and we believed Harry. Harry, after all, was our leader now. Despite countless questions, Harry still refuses to tell us exactly why. The again, Dumbledore never did either.

Through Snape's inside information, Harry's determination and skill and, of course the Order, Voldemort was defeated before the end of what should've been our seventh year at Hogwarts.

But this isn't a story about Voldemort is it? No.

After the war none of us really knew what to do. We had never finished our seventh year. We had returned to Hogwarts to reclaim the Half-Blood Prince's book and Godric Gryffindor's sword, but had never returned to our studies. Ron and Harry became Aurors. They were the best dark wizard fighting team in the known world, why should they finish school? I opted out of the Auror program and began training as an Unspeakable. With Arthur Weasley as the new minister and my rather good (excellent, really) marks and reputation it wasn't hard to enter the prestigious program. Ginny chose to finish her fifth and sixth years at Hogwarts in order to train to be a Healing-Auror, an ambitious goal she accomplished easily.

For five years the four of us living a life that was almost normal. (If you exclude the yearly Voldemort interruptions we had been experiencing since age eleven.) After Ginny graduated she moved into our flat near Diagon Alley.

Ron and I were surprised when, instead of rooming with Harry, she took the extra bedroom.

We realized Harry was gay when we noticed he spent more time with Ginny mooning over pictures of a half naked Draco Malfoy in Witch Weekly than trying to "woo" her as Ron put it. Ginny, it seemed, had known all along.

It was at Harry's twenty second birthday party that we took the jobs. His birthday was always a large to-do with Mrs. Weasley, perhaps because he had never had a true birthday party for the first 17 years of his life. She always went over the top for him, everyone was invited, and everyone always attended. Ron and I were discussing our marriage arrangements when McGonagall, headmistress of Hogwarts, stopped by. She offered Harry and me jobs for the Defense Against the Dark Arts and Arithmancy posts. Both teachers wished to retire and move closer to their families, so she thought she'd ask two young experts in our respective fields to teach. Harry accepted immediately, he had become sick of the fame being a top Auror added to his long list of famous acts. After a talk with Ron (who did not mind the Auror's fame at all) I agreed as well.

I'm telling the story of how they got together because I'm sure the two of them never will. It's what I've gathered from both of them combined with when I was there. I've got most of it really. I don't deny that I dabbled a bit in Oclumency. Harry has never been able to hide his emotions. Snape's side of the story was a little harder to obtain, but the man doesn't realize what he's talking about while he concocts a potion, and we have been making a lot of potions together lately.

**A/N**: Well that's just the prologue. The actual chapters should be longer, although this isn't going to be a long fic. The rest of the story won't be in Hermione's POV. I'm already started on the first chapter so that should be out soon. PLEASE REVIEW! Let me know if there are any errors, I'm horrible at beta-ing my own work.


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